Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lawn mower attachments, and more specifically to a weed trimmer and edger attachment for riding lawnmowers.
Background of the Invention
Lawn maintenance and upkeep is a common concern in many residential and commercial settings. This maintenance may include cutting grass, trimming weeds, edging along fence lines or property boundaries, and the like. Oftentimes, there is numerous equipment to accomplish the many tasks associated with lawn maintenance, including a lawn mower, an edger, a weed trimmer or weed eater, a blower, and the like. This equipment requires maintenance itself and can be cumbersome to handle and transport.
Large areas are more problematic, because of the increased area needed to be reached by the weed trimmer and the need to haul this equipment around the property. Furthermore, these devices generally feed the cutting string from a position below the cutting axis, such as storing the cutting string in a head portion which fastens to the rest of the machine with the cutting string deployed through various orifices. While weed eater attachments can be utilized with lawn mowers and the like, the resulting devices can be problematic.
Prior art weed eaters provide a feed for additional string as the string is worn that is provided in a supply beneath the weed eater machine. The position of the supply can be problematic if feed problems arise due to difficulty of access to the feed supply for a riding weed eater mower attachment.
Numerous attempts to produce a weed trimmer and edger attachment for lawnmowers exist in the prior art. The following patents discuss background art related to the above discussed subject matter:
U.S. Pat. No. 8,464,504, issued Jun. 18, 2013 to Huff, discloses a combination edger and trimmer for mounting on a riding lawn mower's deck. The edger/trimmer comprises a deck mount plate, an intermediate plate and a motor mount plate. The three plates are offset from one another with the intermediate plate hingeably attached to the deck mount plate and also to the motor mount plate. An electric motor with a cutting head is attached to the motor mount plate. The edger/trimmer is positioned in rest, edging, or trimming positions by manually moving the plates about their hinge points.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,322,121, issued Dec. 4, 2012 to Marcell, discloses an electric trimmer attachment for lawn tractors comprising an attachable apparatus for use with existing lawn tractors which provides trimmer capabilities. The apparatus comprises a mounting bracket, an arm, and a line trimmer. The mounting bracket provides a means for removably securing the device to a deck of an existing mower. The arm comprises a gooseneck arm attached to the bracket, which extends outwards. An outside end portion of the arm comprises a line trimmer with an electric motor and features such as automatic line advancement and safety controls. The motor is powered via a converter or battery pack on the mower. The arm provides an arc-shaped rotating motion to the trimmer.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,302,372, issued Nov. 6, 2012 to Eubanks, teaches an auxiliary trimmer for a lawnmower including a mounting plate removably fastened to a lawnmower deck. Attached to the mounting plate is a trimmer housing having a shaft extending therefrom. At a distal end of the shaft is a trimmer spool that is driven by the lawnmower blade with a series of belts and pulleys. On the rear surface of the trimmer housing is an adjustment ring having a plurality of notches thereon. A spring-biased latch on an end of the shaft releasably fits within any one of the notches on the adjustment ring to position the trimmer spool at a select angular orientation. A pivotal handle raises and lowers the trimmer spool to a desired elevation.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,900,428, issued Mar. 8, 2011 to Maldonado, discloses a gear assembly which may have a first gear attached to a gear shaft and a second gear attachable to a powered rotating element of a mowing machine. An attachment element may have a shaft hole with the gear shaft rotatably inserted through the shaft hole with one end of the gear shaft positioned in a coupling end of the attachment element. A trimming device with a trimmer tube open at a first end and an end of a shaft of the trimming device with a shaft socket fitting inserted in the coupling end of the attachment element for the shaft socket fitting to engage the gear shaft. An anti-rotating clamp attached adjacent the first end of the trimmer tube for positioning and retention in a clamp recess in a front face of the coupling end to inhibit rotation of the trimmer tube in the coupling end.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,372, issued Jun. 12, 1984 to Remer, teaches a universal grass edger and trimmer attachment utilizing a rotary flexible drive shaft whose operating end is supported by a multipositional boom.
United States Patent App. No. 2010/00326031, published Dec. 30, 2010 to Branden, discloses a device allowing a user to removably attach a weed line trimmer to a lawnmower deck, allowing a user to activate the weed trimmer or automatically engaging during the mowing of a yard to trim areas beside the mower while mowing the yard, eliminating duplicate effort and also to relieve the stress of carrying the weed trimmer.
United States Patent App. No. 2004/0154277, published Aug. 12, 2004 to Shumate, discloses a trimming and edging attachment for all types of riding mowers and garden tractors used for residential and commercial needs. The attachment consist of a mounting plate to mount to the front of the mower with three sections of arms extending outward to the left of said mower and just ahead of the left front wheel. The trim head is powered from an engage mechanism with a drive belt off of the main shaft of the mower motor. The power of the pneumatic cylinders that operate the up and down motion of the arms comes from a twelve volt dc motor and pump combination. This pump is an on demand pump and only operates when some type of adjustment or movement is needed. This unit does not depend on the mowing deck to be in operation while using the trim and edge attachment.
There exists a need for an improved weed trimmer attachment for riding lawnmowers. Consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate the present invention.